Well I have been thinking about putting together a small inexpensive 2 channel setup for the living room. We don't use that room much, but when we have large family gatherings and other large groups it gets used. Flooring is oak (fake, not the real stuff), the room is apprx 17' wide and 50' long sloping ceiling with a large open area near the front door/stairs. I wanted floorstanding speakers (just looks more elegant). So here is the list of items that will be in the setup:

Emotiva mini-a-100

Fluance SX HTB



Squeezebox classic


the amp caught my eye mainly for its ability to go into suspend/sleep mode until it gets a signal from a source. The amp will be place behind a piano out of sight. The speakers are not my first choice, but fit my budget and were the only ones I found that closely match the flooring (key element to keep the wife happy). The Squeezebox is my old one that I replace with the Transporter and a no brainer for this setup as I won't need any other device for playback, this is mainly for backgound music.

total cost= under $400

The speakers should be in next week and the amp is on back order. I may put out a little more cash on some nice cables for the speakers, but we'll see. I will update this in about a month to post my results